Officer claims employer failed to act after she was ‘forced to out herself’
An employment tribunal has ruled against a transsexual police officer who brought a claim of discrimination and harassment against Essex Police.
Police Constable Emma Chapman, who had surgery to change gender from male to female 14 years ago, brought the claim after she said she was forced to confirm that she was a transsexual over a police radio.
However, the tribunal said that she was “unreasonably prone to take offence” and her reaction to requests for confirmation of identity had been extreme.
Chapman complained after several incidents where her gender was questioned by control room operators who wanted to verify her identity as a woman because they said her voice sounded male.
The first incident occurred in October 2012, then the officer was challenged about her gender over the radio twice more in June 2013. After the first challenge, Chapman reported it to her employer but claimed Essex Police failed to carry out a full investigation and interview the control room operator.
Chapman told the tribunal that the incidents where she had been forced to “out herself” had caused her distress. She also said that the incidents had created an “intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating [and] offensive environment” to work in.
The case is believed to be the first of its kind.